Ana's exemplary prayer

I want to invite you to go to the Word of the Lord quickly. Talk about a mother, a woman who wanted to be a mother and who was tremendously avid. Pastor David Marrero recently told us about that matrix that says "Give me, give me, give me", remember that? And Hannah in the First Book of the Prophet Samuel was such a woman. She had a ravenous desire to be a mother and she channeled that desire, that longing for motherhood, into a constructive way. God in his mercy granted him the desires of his heart.

I want to read for you this first passage from Samuel, Chapter 1, because I consider Ana an exemplary woman whose life, values, behavior in the midst of trials and needs encourages us and also gives us reason to emulate her behavior.

Chapter 1 of First Samuel says: "There was a man whose name was Cana and he had two wives…" -verse 2- and, brothers, don't take this as an example for yourselves or anything, this was simply what he does as 3000 years We are in the 21st century just in case, 2009.

"And he had two wives. The name of one was Ana and that of the other Penina. Penina had children, but Ana did not have any and every year that man, Cana, would go up from his city to worship and offer sacrifices to Jehovah of hosts, in Shiloh where were two sons of Eli: Ophni and Fines, priests of Jehovah."

In other words, every year this man would go up with his entire family with Ana and Penina and with the children she had and as was customary in ancient Israel, because at those times of the year of Holy Festivals they probably went to Jerusalem to offer there sacrifices in the temple and present their offering to the Lord. The whole family would go, it was a great family event, I imagine and they had to live there if Ana and Penina didn't do it before and they were there on that day. They went to worship there in that place where Eli the priest was and two sons that he had who were also priests.

"And when the day came" -verse four- "in which the Cana offered sacrifice, he gave Penina his wife, all his sons and all his daughters, each his part"

Perhaps he would give each of them their item of clothing, a sweater or give them a little money for a snack or whatever, he would give them their share for their support, or a special gift.

"But to Hannah he gave a chosen part, because he loved Hannah, although the Lord had not granted him to have children."

That expression is very important: "although Jehovah had not granted him to have children." I think it's very intentional of the writer to put that there.

But Ana, despite not having children, that in that Hebrew culture so prone to expecting children, and like if you were a woman and you were married and didn't have children, that was like… you were seen in that culture as a failure. Because the Hebrew culture exalted children and since a woman's reason for living was to become a mother, to have children, and a barren woman who could not have children, the father or the husband felt that "they He has accomplished his mission."

"But the Cana, despite the fact that Ana had not given him children, loved Ana."

Ask yourself why, and we'll probably see, and I hope you'll take the time at least to point out something in Ana's character that had won Cana's love.

"And her rival," a very deliberate word chosen by the writer, "her rival, Peninna, irritated her, making her angry and sad because Jehovah had not granted her children."

Again there is that expression, "Jehovah had not granted him to have children."

I think... I ask you, do you think that expression is purely poetic, metaphorical or is it really like that? The Holy Spirit ultimately wrote this.

"And God had not granted him...", there was a decision there I think. What he is implying is that there was a decision on God's part not to have granted him children. I don't need to defend God, and that's what it says there. I am not going to seek to decorate the dead with something or anything, that is what it says there, "God had not allowed her to have children", twice.

I will explain why I insist on this. "That's how she did every year, when she went up to the house of Jehovah, she irritated her," he mocked her, "so Ana cried and didn't eat." Ana suffered raw from that fact of not being able to be a mother.

And Cana, her husband, said to her: 'Ana, why are you crying? Why don't you eat? and why is your heart grieved? Am I not better for you than ten children?" Cana seems to have a high esteem, right? He did not suffer from low self-esteem: "Hey! You have me, why do you need children?' Me I imagine that Ana… 'Mmm… I would like to answer you but I am going to give you a diplomatic answer here'- Ana wanted a child, she loved her husband and rejoiced in her husband's love, but in her heart there was a need to be a mother and that's what worried her the most.

Verse 9 says: "And Ana got up, after she had eaten and drunk in Siloh", they are already there in the place of the Sanctuary "and while Eli the Priest was sitting on a chair next to a pillar of the Temple of Jehovah". .and this is important.

Who was Eli? Eli was a Priest who had already reached old age, and... later I will perhaps explain a little more about him; but he's an interesting character in the early life of Samuel actually and Eli is sitting on one of those pillars, much bigger than one of these pillars here; I imagine Eli and because of his way of being and because of the character that the Bible outlines for us, I imagine him sitting with a chair leaning against the eastern pillar, indolently looking at the Sanctuary, which perhaps at that moment, as it doesn't seem like it was a moment of formal worship, it was perhaps empty or semi-empty.

And he... perhaps his eyes were scanning the space of the Sanctuary and there Ana arrived and Eli is sitting next to a pillar of the Temple and Verse 10 says that "She with bitterness of soul", that is a very strong expression, "with bitterness with his soul he prayed to Jehovah."

How many know that God is not offended that sometimes you cry before Him, spill the bile that you have there, spill your tears and throw a dog in front of Him?

That's good, I've done it and I've been blessed with it, you know? Sometimes you have to cry out before God. God is not bothered that you become fragile before Him, God is not bothered that even you speak heartfelt words. On the contrary, I even like God, because you would not speak strongly to someone unless you did not believe in him and did not believe that he is capable of receiving what he is saying.

There he tells us to "confidently approach the Throne of Grace", confidently for me means that I can also explain to the Lord all my weaknesses, my annoyances at times, my sense of doubt, fear, questioning, whatever, brother feel free to let go of your humanity before God.

We do not have to come to God with pretensions or formulas, or display as we say.

Come before the Lord openly, confidently, humanely and pour out your need before the Lord. The Lord loves that.

"Then Hannah wept with bitterness of soul and prayed to Jehovah and wept “abundantly” and made a vow saying: 'The Lord of Hosts if you deign to look at the affliction of your servant and remember me and do not forget your servant, but that you give your servant a male child..." You have to be specific to the Lord, he did not say, 'give me what you want there, if it has two heads it's fine', but he said, 'give me a male child'.

How important it is to be specific before God! Amen.

Tell the Lord with your first and last name what you need, if you have a problem describe it in great detail, if you are looking for something in your life, take time, work it out before God. God already knows what you need, but He likes it when we let Him know, when we enter into conversation with Him. This indicates intentionality on our part, it indicates that we believe in Him.

Take time to work out your needs.

He made his request before God: "If you give me a male child, I will dedicate him to Jehovah all the days of his life and no razor will pass over his head." That's not to say that Ana didn't want to spend money on a barber on the go.

In the Jewish context, have you heard of the Nazarites? Does anyone know what a Nazarite is? oh! I believe that there is a Nazarite here, because someone here said "Amen" with such force. The brother, Roberto Naranjo, there. You are a Nazarite even though you have cut your hair, even though you have cut your hair, my brother, because you live dedicated to the Lord, he and his wife.

The fact is that the Nazarites were a very select group of people completely dedicated to the Lord, there were... and sometimes a person could make a one-year vow, which is called the "Nazarite", I think it was; where one could say this year I am going to dedicate it to the Lord... my life... and the distinctive thing about the Nazarites was that they did not cut their hair. Her long hair was a sign of her consecration to the Lord.

Can someone tell me the name of someone who never got a haircut until a woman came there and tripped him? Samson.

Remember that Samson never cut his hair? And, until the poor man fell into a trap there and then he lost the anointing that God had given him. But it was a sign of consecration to the Lord.

And Ana said: "Lord, if You give me a child, I will dedicate it to You, I will dedicate it to Your service."

How many know that the children are of the Lord? They are not yours, they are not mine, they are God's. God gives them to us to take care of them, to shepherd them and to direct them towards Him, your heart, but the children do not belong to you or to me. God has a race with them, God has a purpose, God has a calling, God has a destiny, God has a training course for them and we had better not get in God's way when he wants to do something.

Many parents are too possessive and we want to control our children, we want to carefully guide them, ourselves, and sometimes we stifle God's purpose in their lives. And it is an art, knowing how far to push and how far to let go so that God knows what He has to do and does what He has to do in the lives of our children. That takes tremendous faith, you know? but we need to do that, we need to open space so that God can work in the lives of our children and what we have to do is entrust them to the Lord, give them over to God, entrust them to God and expect them to be men and women of God. That is the greatest purpose that we can conceive for our children.

Before we want them to be astronauts, engineers, doctors or influential politicians, let them be men and women of God. The rest is cream on the cake, the rest is secondary. People of character. And that is why we have to train our children, as the Word says in the fear of God, in the knowledge of the Word, to give emphasis to the spiritual formation of our children.

That is why brothers and sisters, and what I am doing is weaving together the Sermon with the reading itself, so important that as parents it is that we invest in the spiritual education of our children. Many times in the Church they will be offering programs and we have youth services and there are activities.

Look, brothers and sisters, instead of spending $15 to take you to the movies to eat jelly beans and see a movie that is not going to do you any good many times, if there is an opportunity to invest it in a good book, in a conference for young people , in a spiritual experience that marks you, do not skimp on everything that can bless your children.

Many times it will require that in winter you have to get home, eat something and get in your car to drop the boy or girl off at Church for Friday night class or for something else, some experience in some spiritual place. , a retreat, whatever. Look, do it in the name of the Lord, invest and say "Father, I do that as an investment in the character of my son or my daughter." Use this gesture that I am giving to bless and create a man, a woman who will serve you and love you above all things.

How many can say Amen to that? Give the Lord a big round of applause and affirm that in your life.

We have to know what our priorities are, brothers, being a mother, being a father is not a part-time job. It is an intensive matter, it requires dedication. It is the most important Ministry that no man or woman can exercise: being a mother. And it is one of the most exalted things. Nowadays, the professional woman is emphasized a lot, the woman who takes the world by storm, the successful woman and sometimes the role of a mother is minimized.

My sisters, I want to affirm and tell you: There is nothing more important than being a mother in the name of the Lord, with spiritual values that we instill in the lives of our children. That is the noblest, most dignified, most influential work that can be on Earth. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. That hand that rocks the cradle is the most powerful influence in the world, it's not politics up there on a national platform. It is that hand that lulls, that blesses, that instills values, that prays for that creature and creates men and women who love God and who are well-founded in the Lord.

What does the Word say? It says: "Instruct the child in his way and when old, he will not turn from it."

Mothers and fathers, too, many times we invest in our children and think: "Hey! This seed is falling on barren ground. It is falling on barren ground. I don't see results." Look what you are doing in educating your children is putting spiritual time bombs in their hearts. You may not see them immediately, you are sowing seeds for a long time.

But one day when those rebellious or hard-of-hearing kids reach a certain age and feel the pressure and weight of life, when they start having to earn their daily bread, or have their first failure when they apply to college and don't receive them or when the first girlfriend or girlfriend leaves them who feel the first tightening in their hearts, or have to earn their daily bread, or get married and feel the problems of marriage... those time bombs will begin to explode inside of their hearts.

And you know what? They will look for a church, they will look for prayer, they will look for God and what you planted there will come to light. Sow, sow, sow, always and leave the result to the Lord. Amen.

The Apostle Paul says: "I sowed, Apollos watered, but growth is given by God." Our part is to sow the seed and make sure that it is good seed in the land of our children and water it with prayer, with love, with care, with declarations of trust in the Lord and believing that God will give growth in due time. What you sow for your children will not be without results, it will not stop being successful.

So sisters and brothers, I encourage you to sow in the Lord.

And when I say brothers, I want to remember that the work of planting and educating children is not only for women, just in case.

Parents, I believe that one of the greatest needs that culture has at this time of any nationality but in the Latin, in the Afro-American and also, I believe, in the Anglo-Saxon, I believe that there is a great need. of committed fathers, of exemplary men, of men with the Word of God flowing from their mouths, because their hearts are full of it.

Men of prayer, men who defend their families, men who are at the forefront morning and night as priests, leading the spiritual life of their family. Men who are allowing themselves to be broken by the Lord, tender-hearted men, men who set themselves the task of being exemplary fathers and husbands, of winning the hearts of their wives, of winning the love and respect of their children and their wives and of their relatives. Men who are willing to give up things they love and don't think they have to give up so their families can move on and progress and their marriages can move on to the next step. One of the great absences that I believe our community has is, precisely, the lack of priests in the homes. And I encourage you, men, let's go, including myself, let's set ourselves the goal of growing more and more in the Lord every day. Amen.

Let me tell you that this is very important, because many times in the office, in counseling times, sisters who bleed come to me because they are growing, they are receiving the Word, they are being blessed, they are giving themselves, they are tender, they let the Lord I formed them and they are like soft wax that the Lord only has to print his finger very slightly for them to take the configuration that God wants in their lives.

But they are bleeding because their husbands are not walking alongside them and they feel like they are leaving their husbands behind. They are growing, they are advancing, they are receiving God's blessing and many times we men are not giving everything. And this is a loving, pastoral word to my brothers, not to get them in trouble with their wives, you know?

But it is important that we men put our batteries together. God wants priests. Brethren, I adore the work of women in our church and in the church of Jesus Christ. I think that, well, I don't have enough words to say how much I thank the Lord for each one of the sisters.

But you know what? I always insist that there is something very special, there is a priestly role that God has for man. I do believe, contrary to what is preached today, that the man is the head of the woman. Now, not the head to oppress, control, abuse, but to lead in the sense of the word.

For example, with example and behavior, brothers. Amen.

And for that we need God's wisdom, for that we need surrender to the Lord, do not leave the burden to your wife in prayer, in reading the Word, in spiritual growth.

Be the first, there in front. Earn the right to lead, because you exemplify the character of Jesus Christ and passion and love for the things of God.

And when we have “matched” couples, our homes are going to be blessed. Don't mismatch; but each one there side by side, walking step by step, conquering land, blessing their families, exemplifying unity, receiving both from the Lord and growing together like two leafy plants, nourished by fresh running waters. God will bless our homes.

We won't have sons running around wanting to assert their masculinity improperly because they don't have the warmth of a father, and we will have confident women who will live safe because they have good support. Amen.

So, those are some of the things, and I think my time is almost up, but let me continue a little bit because if you have time, brother, sister, use this week to meditate on those first two passages from First Samuel. . They are beautiful passages, very nourished and with a lot of extraordinary teaching.

Focus on Ana's character, look at all that Ana can teach us and also Eli. Eli, by the way, was not a good father. Eli was the antithesis of Ana and he paid a very high price for his carelessness and his lack of discipline and integrity and in how he handled his children who were Pastors, they were Priests. And God strongly condemned him. The end of his life was a dishonorable end, because he did not carry out his work as a father.

So read these two chapters, primarily. What's more, the first three are tremendous chapters and you're going to learn a lot from them. Use this week to meditate on these chapters and to grow in your knowledge of this part of the Christian life.

So, let's continue... Ana is there in the Shrine, she is praying to the Lord, crying bitterly, asking God to grant her a son. He tells him: "Lord, if You grant me that son, I will not control him, I will not possess him, I will not pretend that he is mine, I consecrate him to You, so that You can do what You want with him. to be an instrument in Your hands".

Those are the prayers that God honors. The prayers we ask for not to flatter our own appetites but to Glorify the Lord. That kind of prayer you can almost go to the bank thinking that it will be answered. The prayer that is requested to glorify the Lord and to advance his Kingdom, that prayer God loves above all other prayers, honor them.

Then it says that: "while she prayed" -verse 12- "for a long time..."

You know what? Prayer must be passionate, persistent and detailed and take one's time. There you have four qualities of prayer.

How many times do we make vapor prayers, right? As we are putting on our tie to leave we say: 'Lord bless me this day and the family, in the name of Jesus. Amen'. We went out there shot, right?

While we are eating the porridge or the toast: 'Lord, thank you for this day. Bless me....' and we left at once to work.

God likes you to sit down, calm down, drink your cappuccino, your cup of coffee, find your best seat, take time, at the best moment of the day. Do you know what my best moment is? Perhaps I have already shared it with you. Early in the morning before the sun rises. Many times if the sun has risen, I feel like I wasted the day.

Hey, but how cute in winter! when you know that the cold outside is roaring and the wind is whirring everywhere, you are at home sitting in a little corner on your sofa or favorite seat having a cup of tea or coffee, talking with the Lord, before he start the day

That time when your mind is clear after a few hours of rest and you are not yet polluted by the news or the conversations of the day or the noise from the street and you can sit down and talk with your Lord. Consecrate your day to God, talk to him in great detail, because you have taken the time and bless your family, bless the issues of your life, present the desires of your heart to the Lord, catch up with God and also hear from Him .

Because many times, in those moments, God will put impressions in your spirit and will speak to you about what He wants with you, too. Because He likes a dialogue, He doesn't like a monologue.

Take time to hear from God, too. Close your eyes and let God speak to you and you will see that you begin to experience thoughts, impressions, longings that you don't even know where they came from. When you receive them, consecrate them to the Lord and say: "Father, thank you for speaking to me. I'm going to act on it. I'm going to sanctify it and I'm going to give it to You."

Take time, take time to pray to the Lord. Prayers should be like this: passionate, persistent and detailed and specific. All these things are here.

Look at Ana's prayer, by the way, it is one of those exemplary prayers that are in Scripture. I put it next to Daniel's prayer in his book, next to Nehemiah's prayer in the First or Second Chapter of his Book, Solomon's prayer before consecrating the temple and this prayer is one of the great prayers of the history. And it is an example of the values and elements that should exemplify a prayer that God listens to and honors.

It says that: "while she prayed long before the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth."

Listen to me, there are people who only look at the outside, they don't look at the inside. Never be influenced by people who have no vision. Never let carnal, mediocre, lukewarm people drag your life down. Because that's what they're going to want to do. If God puts in you passion, surrender, encouragement, desire to serve the Lord, restlessness. If God puts up an outrageous offering of something for Him, don't let mediocre drag it down to me. Eagles shouldn't be swayed by the advice of chickens, that's all I'm telling you.

Look for eagles to advise you. And if you are not an eagle, by listening to the advice of the eagles you will become an eagle. Amen.

But Eli was a man who had already lost his vision, what's more, I believe that at one point he lost it physically and he lost it spiritually. Eli had lived a life that is already like... unfortunately there are people who serve the Lord when they reach middle age or old age... brothers are already like a boot sword that no one took the time to sharpen it.

Brother, if you want to grow in the Lord, what is your goal? My goal is to reach old age with as much love and passion for the kingdom of God as when I was 25 years old. It's more, more, with so much enthusiasm for God and the shiny look and desire to give the giant another stone to make sure he's dead.

But there are people who are like... we can't live by inertia, in other words. Many Christians live by inertia, we receive the Lord and go to Church so that they give us a tune up every week and that they inflate our tires again and we believe that this is Christian life, disciple life. You have to live, brothers, with your sword drawn, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

You have to pray, cry out, read, search, ask, talk, cry out to the Lord. That is the only thing that creates a man, a woman who reaches the goal the same or better than when they started, with the same passion, the same joy.

Many men and women of the Bible ended up defeated and started well because they did not give in to the disciplines of the spirit.

If you have entered into the ways of the Lord, do not take your hand off the plow, do not take your hand off the sword. Say, I am going to live each day loving God more, seeking more of Him, crying out to Him more, reading His Word more.

Eli was not like that and when he gets old he has lost his spiritual vision, his children are a disaster, his family is a disaster. Now what he is waiting for is the age to collect the social security and go somewhere over there to create... and when he sees Ana, he can't understand what Ana is processing.

It says: "... but Ana spoke in her heart and only her lips moved and her voice was not heard and Eli considered her drunk." He said, this woman has to be drunk because he sees this woman is not saying anything openly, she is moving her lips; I imagine that her face was contorted with passion and pain, tears ran down her eyes, her face was perhaps red from everything she was feeling at that moment. Maybe he was making weird gestures. Brother, look, if people think you are weird in the Lord, thank God. I prefer that the unconverted and people who do not understand God believe that I am crazy, but be crazy for the Lord.

God willing that our life of prayer and service to the Lord causes scandal in others who do not know God and have to say 'What is happening with this person?

But Eli sees Hannah crying out to the Lord in that way and he considered her drunk and then Eli said to her: "How long will you be drunk woman? Digest your wine." And Ana responded by saying: "No, my lord."

Listen to me, sisters, be honest, how many of you would have responded like that if you said "look, I think you...? I think they would have scratched his face all at once, those nails would have been on it. Be honest, no raise your hand, but there in your heart confess How many of us, right?

One of the things about Ana is her meekness. She was a meek woman. I know that some brothers say, "Amen, Pastor, keep going, it's going well." I gave enough, right now, to the boys, so...

But there is something special about meekness for both the man and the woman. Nowadays the woman says: "If he throws me a plate, I'll throw him ten". "If he breaks any of the crockery, I'm going to break all of it on his head, not on top of..." I believe that nowadays married couples cannot achieve anything because everyone is with fifty knives and daggers waiting for what ... like the gunmen who shoot one and the other shoots at once, right?

Do you know what is going to heal our marriages? It is someone who is willing to say: "You know what? This time I am going to remain silent. This time I am going to pray, I am going to refer my case to the Lord." You wait for God to provide the timing or whatever but it's so important. Do not shoot from the holster, as many of us are, we are expert gunslingers; We don't even have to pull out the revolver. At once we shoot and solve what we have....

Meekness, says the Word of God that: "A soft answer removes anger." And Ana's reaction has impacted me a lot and we all have to learn a lot from Ana's character.

Why do you think Cana loved Ana so much? I think it was because of his character. Penina was the opposite, she was a harpy.

Is there a sister here called Penina? Please raise your hand.

Is there someone named Ana? Raise your hand.

Look! That's the difference, brothers. When Penina died, I don't think anyone cried, they said "Thank God that harpy is gone." The world is so much better off without her.

You know what? Meekness, good character, tenderness, humility, generosity of heart... that has incredible power, brothers. Let us ask the Lord to help us.

What does the Word say? "If someone hits you on the cheek, turn the other one." Not his cheek, but yours.

It says: "If someone curses you, bless him. Those who persecute you, pray for them because you will heap fiery coals on their head." Meaning, you're going to put them on top of them like hot coals, so that they feel so hot that they have to run away from you, or have to say sorry. You are going to embarrass them.

Brethren, there is something powerful in that character of Christ, that fruit of the Holy Spirit, that love, goodness, peace, meekness, joy, trust in the Lord, kindness. That fruit of the Spirit, which has more power sometimes, I believe, than the gifts of the Spirit. We Pentecostals focus so much on the gifts, but you know what? The fruit of the Spirit is more powerful to deal with the devil.

The devil likes to struggle and deal with violent people, but with people who have the character of Christ, he doesn't know what to do with them. He wags his tail and doesn't know how to get into them because they don't have anything that looks like him.

So, let's cultivate the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Let us ask the Lord that our homes be homes where peace reigns, where there are no abusive, hurtful, penetrating words. Before you say a word that curses or hurts or cuts the heart of your child or your wife, ask the Lord to hold your tongue. Count to one hundred, count to three hundred, whatever.

May the Lord have a roof in our homes that prevents strong emotions and words from going beyond a certain level of intensity. Let them be homes where problems are resolved with a good conversation, where the right moment to deal with a burning issue is waited for, where they take turns waiting and refer the cause to the Lord, where the peace of God is present. Because that allows the Holy Spirit to dwell in a home. That when people enter your house, feel, "here is something different, here is the Peace of God."

Let us ask the Lord to cultivate... Ana had that beautiful character and Ana responded by saying: "No, my lord, I am a woman troubled by the Spirit. I have not drunk wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord. Do not your handmaid for an impious woman because of the magnitude of my anguish and my affliction I have spoken until now".

Eli responded tamely and said to him: "Go in peace and the God of Israel grant you the request that you have made."

Do you see how He transformed this man? One of the few moments of nobility that he had in his old age was that moment when he entered into his priestly role. Because her response restored him spiritually and she said "There is your servant. Thank you in front of your eyes" and the woman went on her way and ate and was no longer sad.

I'm going to leave it there and I'm going to ask the musicians to stop by for a moment.

Brothers, how beautiful. There you have the beginning and the end of an exemplary prayer, of a process of faith, beautiful. Beautifully finished. The Lord has wanted us to focus on this aspect of the sermon. If you want other aspects of the sermon, look for the morning sermon because there are other very beautiful things in Ana's life that greatly enrich our understanding of this great woman.

But how should our prayers be? How should our walk before God be? How should we face the crises, the shortcomings, the gaps in life? We have to fight them in God, we have to fight them with God by our side. We must sanctify and consecrate our petitions before the Lord. Brothers, may God make each one of us passionate people for God. People who live their lives before God. If God does not give you something that you long for greatly, as in the case of Ana, bring your case before God but do not be bitter. Keep your posture sweet, submit to the will of God and bring your cause to the Lord, present your need to the Lord day after day and ask God to turn the course of your life. And if God takes time to answer your need, meanwhile enjoy life and do not allow negative things to embitter you and take away your faith in God who has his time for everything.

Tell the Lord: 'Father, even if You do not grant me what I have asked of You, but I am going to ask all the days of my life until You enter me. And I know that when You enter Your Kingdom, I will have everything I asked for and much more."

But meanwhile enjoy life, enjoy life. If God has not answered all your requests and has not filled all your gaps, be like Ana. Ana did not let that embitter her, contaminate her relationship with God, allow her to be passionate towards Him, seek an answer in His Temple, live subject to the Lord.

Give your cause to the Lord, do not reveal yourself, do not be bitter. God has his time, God knows what you need. God is willing to respond to your need and your request.

May God bless us on this day with the example of an exemplary woman, Ana, who blesses us and speaks to our lives through the centuries and centuries.

Stand up and once again our mothers receive the Blessing of the Lord. Leave affirmed and also, look, that is another cloth to cut that I am not even going to get into there. Those who are not mothers, single sisters, we bless you and tell you: you are a crown or a jewel in the crown of this church. Do not think in any way, never make the mistake of thinking that you are incomplete in any way. And we as a Church never make the mistake of suggesting that a woman has to have a man to be complete.

God has purposes in your life, woman, whatever your state, you are a precious daughter of God. You have so much to give, you have so much to enjoy, you have so much to learn and experience! That I encourage you to embrace life and take it fully and enter the game of life with your God at your side showing you the way ahead.

Never live thinking: 'I don't have this, I don't have that'. Focus on everything you have, everything God has given you, everything you can do, everything you can accomplish in the Lord. Don't be out there looking to create Ishmaels and get by in things that are not for you, that what they are going to be, are going to be stumbling blocks in your life.

Wait for the Lord's time and meanwhile enjoy your life. Enjoy what God has given you and grow in the Lord, give to the Lord, cultivate spiritual children, cultivate friendship with people like you, travel, read, learn, contribute, serve. All of this will make you a woman fulfilled in the Lord. The rest God knows his moments. Amen.

We are going to live fruitful lives in the state in which God calls us, where we are, there we bear fruit in the Lord. We bless you in the name of Jesus.

Father Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Thank you that wherever we are, whatever our situation, because we have You, we are sitting on thrones of kings and queens. We are in a blooming garden, Father. We are in positions of authority, we can live fruitful lives having You, the perfect lever, we can move the world Lord. We can act on our reality, we can change destinations, we can obtain and do feats, Lord, because we have You as our God.

Thank you because you have good intentions for us and thank you because you have said that our families will be blessed and prosperous. Our children will be like plants, our children will inherit the nations, they will restore ruined cities, they will raise the walls in fallen places and they will spread Your Word. A blessed generation.

Our homes You want to bless them, Father.

I bless my brothers and sisters wherever they are, whatever their state I bless. Thank you for Your Word, Lord.

Take us to our homes, let us enjoy this day. Bless our mothers wherever they are and bless us here in this country where You have brought us to be a Blessing. Thank you.

In your name, Lord Jesus we pray. Amen and amen. God bless you my brothers.

Sermon by Dr. Roberto Miranda recorded May 10, 2009 at León de Judá Congregation

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